Five Points, Tennessee: The Big Red Store - Coffins, Moon Pies, etc.

Former World's Largest Country Store closed in 1950, was revived as a museum/soda fountain in 2006 to remind of the convenience of buying your ice cream sundaes and child-size coffins in the same building.

The Big Red Store - Coffins, Moon Pies, etc.

The Big Red Store has many claims to fame. When it opened, it was hailed as the largest country store in the world. It's been called the world's first mall, claimed to have the fanciest soda fountain in the south (still there), and is a mile away from where a civil war skirmish involving Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest took place. A sign tells the story of the skirmish. The store contained everything you could imagine, including coffins. It was the sight of a U.S. Post Office from 1858-1949. The general store opened in 1902.

It closed its doors in 1950, and was renovated in 2006. It now houses a museum that contains many original items, including a child's coffin, the soda fountain, and original receipts. There's even an outhouse out back. There is a quilt block mural on the side of the building that is part of the Appalachian Quilt Trail.

[Ben Tate, 06/12/2011]